An idea occurred to me, that an optional starting "city" might be a good idea. I'm talking about a system with lots of stations, lots of traffic, lots of things going on. First off this would give the player a safe area, probably with lots of opportunities to take on some easy contracts such as deliveries between stations, or heading off to the local asteroids for some mining work. just some stuff to give you an opportunity to try things out and familiarize yourself with the various aspects of the game. Additionally this provides a psychological "Home Base" that you can continue to return to, sort of like a starting city in various MMOs. You are of course free to not do any of the missions and contracts in the city and just head out, and maybe you can one day return to find it different from when you started, perhaps it's flourished and grown, perhaps it's been invaded and destroyed, perhaps you're the invader

Another idea is to have an analysis of contracts and rate them easy/medium/hard, based on how many AI, if they were you, would take that contract. So if 90-100% would take it, it's probably pretty easy, if 60-80% would take it, it's probably a slight challenge, if 40-50% would take it, it's probably a challenge, if 20-30%, a difficult challenge, if less than 10%, it's probably going to be very difficult. how you would determine an AI's "If I were you", i'm not sure, but seeing a notification that 38% of AI would take this contract in your position would be a useful if not perfect measure of difficulty, because perhaps it's pretty easy and lots of AI are just dumb about this, perhaps it's way harder, and the 38% are fools. it adds an interesting component of mystery and risk

Challenging your assumptions is good for your health, good for your business, and good for your future. Stay skeptical but never undervalue the importance of a new and unfamiliar perspective.Imagination Fertilizer
Beauty may not save the world, but it's the only thing that can

I like the starting city idea. It makes a lot more sense to me than just "appearing" in space. I don't have anything to add, unfortunately, just agreement to give. I really like this idea. ...but I've always been a big fan of city and colony work to begin with.

This is one item that I'd like to see options on. I'd like the start to be split up between "start at station with small ship", "start the game as one of the NPCs (random assignment)" and "take control of a successful NPC (choose which NPC to control)".

This is one item that I'd like to see options on. I'd like the start to be split up between "start at station with small ship", "start the game as one of the NPCs (random assignment)" and "take control of a successful NPC (choose which NPC to control)".

I really like the idea of starting the game as an NPC. This could be a very interesting way to bring in some "backstory". For instance you could start off with a couple of people really hating you because the NPC you took control of cheated them before you started. Or on the flip side you could have people that really like you because "you" saved them at some point in the past.

A life well lived only happens once.Seems deep until you think about it.

Well It's long been a staple that a huge part of LT is the various sliders, but I agree, there should be a set of defaults for everything, as well as a few other pre-set options to choose from in the starting menu. As well there should be a [ + ] button to add a new slider/toggle to the menu for easy access next time. And even an [ Export Settings ] button that you can export and share your particular slider settings with the world in the event you found a particularly fun combination.

Having another thought, although it would probably be better as a mod than vanilla, would be the inclusion of Space Lifeforms, A whole food chain that starts with "Herbivores" that munch on the materials in asteroids or "Space plants" and "Carnivores" that eat them, and "Apex Predators" that eat the carnivores and the herbivores. The Apex predators and carnivores would be singular or hunt in packs with some pirate-like AI. The herbivores would be singular, packs, or herds.
This would add hunting and pastoral shepherding as a way to make a living, as well as creating rather easy-by-comparison contracts like "Kill these space-wolves that keep attacking my space-sheep". Additionally it would give some more vibrancy and life to even unpopulated and wild systems. Apex predators might even be quite strong and able to take on fairly weak explorers or merchants.
Again though, probably only good as a mod unless it's fairly easy to implement, which it might be.

Challenging your assumptions is good for your health, good for your business, and good for your future. Stay skeptical but never undervalue the importance of a new and unfamiliar perspective.Imagination Fertilizer
Beauty may not save the world, but it's the only thing that can

No, I don't disagree that there should be sliders. I just think there should be a default, "skip all this confusing stuff" option. After all, the first time you play a game like Skyrim, you do it without mods so you can get a feel for the game and what it's like.

No, I don't disagree that there should be sliders. I just think there should be a default, "skip all this confusing stuff" option. After all, the first time you play a game like Skyrim, you do it without mods so you can get a feel for the game and what it's like.

I agree with what you say, Nathan. I'd like to play LT initially using what Josh considers to be his defaults for the game.

I'd like to play LT initially using what Josh considers to be his defaults for the game.

Well then I guess you'll be skipping beta then? I imagine the "defaults" when beta is first released will have some serious imbalances and the testers will have to help josh and co find better, more enjoyable balances that give the game good pacing, a good difficulty curve, good distribution and variation, good and intuitive UI, maximize fun, add missing features, remove or change bad features, and how to keep it interesting for a very long time. I imagine some people will already have a few hundred hours of play in between the beta release and official launch.

Challenging your assumptions is good for your health, good for your business, and good for your future. Stay skeptical but never undervalue the importance of a new and unfamiliar perspective.Imagination Fertilizer
Beauty may not save the world, but it's the only thing that can